Saturday, 30 May 2015

Battle Report 5- 1500 pts White Scars vs White Scars

Another Thursday, another game at Dundee Wargames and another written battle report (complete with pictures and turn diagrams). This time it was brother vs. brother, Khan vs. Khan, this week I faced off against Allan's White Scars with my own White Scars. Even though both forces were from the same chapter, the armies we were fielding were very different. The game was 1500 pts a side and was played on a 4 foot by 4 foot board. We rolled up Crusade on the eternal war missions (and rolled 5 objectives to claim).

Again, Allan had Khan as his warlord trait. For the Librarian, he rolled on the Pyromancy table, getting Inferno, Molten Beam and Flame Breath (Primaris).

Allan had an interesting army, a lot of units to face, plenty of anti-tank firepower with the landspeeders and plenty of scoring units for claiming objectives. A very different force from my army, it should be an interesting match up.

DEPLOYMENT
The battlefield consisted of three ruins on one side and a large trench line on the other side. Five objectives were then placed, three in the centre line of the battlefield, one on the ruins to the left and one behind the trenches.
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The Battlefield. The Shields represent the Objectives for the game.

I won the roll for deployment and chose to go first. I think a lot of this game may have been decided on who went first. The Devastators deployed on the hill on the left flank with their Rhino nearby. A unit of grav gun bikers deployed behind the ruins, near the objective. On the right flank, the bikers, scouts and centurions deployed in cover of the ruins.
Allan deployed the landspeeders, bikes and characters on the edge of his deployment zone, all across the board. The landspeeders infiltrated forward slighty, but struggled to get closer than 18" on the small board.
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Army Deployment. The arrows show the Scout moves taken.

My army lines up for battle.

Allan deploys. That's a lot of Landspeeders!

The Scouts Infiltrate.

For scout moves, only Allan chose to move the landspeeder storms to the centre line, while the bikes, Khan and the Librarian advanced. I chose not to scout. With odds on getting first turn, I would hoping to get some charges in at the vulnerable landspeeders.
Allan failed to seize the initiative, so I got the first turn.

Allan's Scout moves take him to the centre of the field.

TURN 1- WHITE SCARS (MIKE)

White Scars (Mike) Turn 1

The drop pod crashed to the ground in front of the trench line. The tactical marines spilled out onto the trench network, readying their guns at the Landspeeders opposing them. On the other side of the battlefield, the bikers advanced on the scout transports in the centre. The rhino moved sideways to claim the objective besides it.

The drop pod crashes in front of the enemy lines.

The White Scar bikers surged forwards.

The meltagun bike squad fired at the landspeeder storm in front of them, despite jinking, the armour was penetrated and the speeder was stunned. Khan's bike squad fired at the landspeeder storm in front of them, the grav guns glancing the skimmer and immobilising it. The final bike squad managed to destroy another landspeeder storm.
In the white scars deployment zone, the Centurions targeted the final undamaged landspeeder storm, easily destroying the vehicle. My landspeeder storm fired at the opposing bikers, the cerebrus launcher failing to wound the bikers, but managing to blind them. The heavy bolter succeeded in killing one of the riders. The tactical squad fired at the landspeeders in the enemy deployment zone, destroying one. The Devastators fired at the enemy Khan opposing them, they wounded three times, but all three were saved.

In the assault phase, the meltagun bikers assaulted the landspeeder storm, destroying it with their krak grenades. The grav gun bikers assaulted the scouts from the transport they wrecked, killing one with their hammer of wrath attacks and killing two in close combat. The scouts caused no wounds in return, they failed there morale check and fled, but were locked in with the bikers. Khan led his squad to attack the speeder they had been firing on, Khan was able to wreck it with his hammer of wrath attack.

TURN 1- WHITE SCARS (ALLAN)

White Scars (Allan) Turn 1

Two units of scouts advanced on the meltagun bikers, while a third unit retreated away from the enemy bikers, joined by their own bike squad. The landspeeder squadrons on the right flank flew over the trenches, turning to face the tactical marines taking refuge there. Khan advanced on the Devastator squad, while the librarian moved towards the centre of the battlefield.

Khan advances on the Devastator squad

The Landspeeders encircle the enemy army.

In the psychic phase, the librarian manifested Inferno on Khan's bike squad, however, the large blast scattered away from the unit, causing no harm.

The landspeeder squadrons facing the tactical marines opened fire on the squad, slaying four with the heavy flamers and multimeltas. The remaining speeders and a unit of scouts opened fire on Khan's bike squad, killing two, despite their jinking. On the left flank, another squadron of landspeeders, the two units of scouts and bikers fired at the meltagun bike squad, killing two with the combined firepower. Khan aimed at Devastators, hitting twice despite needed 6's, but failed to kill any of the marines facing him.
In the centre of the battlefield, the combat continued. The bikers attacked furiously, but could not penetrate the scout's armour. In reply, the scouts struck down a biker. The bikers passed their morale check, but failed to hit and run out of the combat.

TURN 2- WHITE SCARS (MIKE)

White Scars (Mike) Turn 2

My turn began with the Stormtalon arriving from reserve, flying on from the left flank to target the enemy skimmers. The remaining bikers advanced on the enemy scouts and speeders.

The flyer arrives, targeting the enemy skimmers.

Khan lines up his next victims.

The drop pod fired its Deathwind launcher at the librarian, causing a single wound. Seeing the powerful psyker stumble, the rhino added its firepower, slaying the enemy warrior. The tactical marines in the trench fired at the landspeeders, causing a glancing hit and forcing the speeders to jink. The friendly landspeeder storm fired at the enemy scouts, killing one with the heavy bolter. The meltagun biker squad fired at the landspeeders in front of them, stunning one despite their jinking. Khan's squad fired at the other speeder, the grav guns damaging and immobilising the vehicle.
Sighting the enemy bike squad, the Centurions levelled their mighty grav cannons at them, slaying them all. The newly arrived stormtalon destroyed an enemy skimmer, while beside it, the devastators opened fire at the enemy Khan, causing a single wound with their massed firepower.

In the assault phase, Khan and his unit assaulted the enemy landspeeder, easily wrecking it. The bikers and scouts in the centre of the battlefield exchanged blows, but neither side took any damage. The scouts took the opportunity to retreat during the respite in combat (Allan elected to hit and run out of combat).

Khan advances into cover after destroying his prey.

The Scouts successfully disengage from the bikers.

TURN 2- WHITE SCARS (ALLAN)

White Scars (Allan) Turn 2

The landspeeders on the right side advanced to the flank of the Rhino, while the remaining scouts advanced on the enemy bikers.

The Landspeeders move to fire on the vehicles.

The Scouts advance on the bikers.

The landspeeder closest to the tactical marines killed two of them, but their nerve held and they remained in place. The landspeeders fired at the rhino and the stormtalon, but failed to hit having jinked last turn. The speeders on the left flank failed to hit the bikers in the meltagun squad, but the scouts managed to slay one with bolt pistol fire.

The Speeders open fire.

The tactical marines are slain by the Landspeeders.

Khan launched himself at the Devastator squad, riding one down with his hammer of wrath attack and cutting down another with his attacks. The marines failed to cause any damage in return. The fury of his attack broke the morale of the devastators and they fled off the board. Two units of scouts assaulted the enemy bikers and succeeded in killing one for no loss in return. Their morale held and they hit and run out of the combat.
The two remaining scout units attempted to assault the meltagun biker squad, one unit failing to make it in to combat. The unit that made it into combat caused three wounds on the bikers, but all were saved. The bikers failed to cause any wounds in return.

TURN 3- WHITE SCARS (MIKE)

White Scars (Mike) Turn 3.

The Stormtalon turned 90 degrees and moved towards the right flank, supporting the bikers and centurions who advanced on the enemy troops. One unit of bikers veered off to combat the landspeeders that had strayed into my deployment zone.

The Stormtalon advances.

The bikers eye up the enemy skimmers.

Tactical marines move along the trenches.

The drop pod fired its deathwind launcher at the nearby scouts, which scattered off to also cover the adjacent bikers. One scout and biker succumbed to the mighty blast. Khan's bike squad followed up the attack with the slaughter of three of the scouts. The stormtalon flying overhead fired at the landspeeders on the right flank, destroying one and putting a glancing hit on the other in the squadron. The Centurions wiped out the scouts opposing them with their massed firepower.

The flyer helps destroy the skimmers.

The bikers retreat after damaging the Landspeeders.

In the assault phase, Khan charged the remaining scout sergeant, easily slaying the opposing warrior. On both flanks, the bikers charged in to finish off the landspeeders facing them. On the left flank, one speeder was wrecked through hammer of wrath attacks. Both squads failed to finish of the enemy skimmers, their grenades proving ineffective this turn.

TURN 3- WHITE SCARS (ALLAN)

White Scars (Allan) Turn 3.

Allan's Khan led a supporting speeder towards the 3 remaining members of the grav gun bike squad. A scout squad advanced towards the enemy bikers, while the lone surviving sergeant from another squad retreated towards the objective in Allan's deployment zone.

The Scouts advance towards the enemy deployment zone.

In the shooting phase, a speeder fired at the stormtalon, but its shot went wide. The scouts advancing on the enemy Khan managed to slay a biker with their bolt pistols, while the landspeeder supporting Khan managed to kill two bikers with its weaponry. The landspeeder beside the tactical marines fired at them, but failed to kill any of the enemy.
Khan assaulted the lone biker sergeant from one of the grav gun squads, easily killing him in combat.

Allan's Khan finishes off the lone sergeant.

TURN 4- WHITE SCARS (MIKE)

White Scars (Mike) Turn 4.

The stormtalon left the airspace, circling round to find a fresh target. The remainder of the army moved to combat the remaining threats in the enemy army; the scouts advanced on the lone speeder in my deployment zone, while Khan made his way towards the remaining scouts.

Centurions Advance.

The Scouts surge towards the enemy skimmer.

The scouts, accompanied by their transport, fired at the lone speeder behind the Rhino, putting a hull point on the skimmer. The meltagun squad destroyed the landspeeder that they had been hunting throughout the game. The Centurions turned on the enemy Khan, gunning him down in a withering hail of fire. My Khan and his squad fired on the scouts, killing two, then assaulting the survivors and finishing off the unit.

My Centurions set their sights on Allan's Khan.

The scouts attacked the speeder they shot at, but failed to damage it. One the other side of the battlefield, the tactical squad assaulted the nearby landspeeder, the sergeant blowing it out of the sky with his meltabombs.

TURN 4- WHITE SCARS (ALLAN)
With only 3 units left on the board, Allan manoeuvred them to cause maximum damage. One landspeeder moved to the rear of the Rhino, its multimelta penetrating the armour and shaking the crew. The other landspeeder moved towards the tactical squad, its heavy flamer killing two of the marines.

The skimmer retreats from the Tactical Marines.......

....while the other Landspeeder moves to the vulnerable rear of the Rhino.

With that, Allan's turn was over and the endgame was upon us.

TURN 5- WHITE SCARS (MIKE)

White Scars (Mike) Turn 5.

The stormtalon re-appeared on the field, sighting the enemy forces for destruction. The scouts advanced on the landspeeder that attacked the Rhino.
The flyer destroyed one landspeeder, while the Centurions annihilated the final skimmer.

Seizing the objectives.

The meltagun bikers advanced on the lone surviving scout sergeant. They fired their bolters at the sergeant, but he survived unscathed. They followed up with an assault, but were unable to finish him off in combat.

The Lone Survivor.

With that, the game ended, a lone scout sergeant contesting the objective in his deployment zone.

LESSONS FROM THE BATTLE:
Thanks to Allan for a great battle against such a familiar, but unusual force compared to mine. I wonder how this battle wound have progressed had I not got the first turn or if Allan had been able to seize the initiative.

I think this was one of the first battles where I remembered all my special rules and did not make any rules errors. That hopefully means I won't make any stupid errors in the upcoming tournaments (well, rules errors at least, tactical errors are still very much a certainty at some point).

The Centurions showed their power this game, pretty much eliminating whatever they pointed their guns at.
I wanted to see how the Scouts and Landspeeder Storm performed as I haven't got much practice in with them. I was happy with how they performed. I didn't throw them away senselessly, instead keeping them back to seize objectives late in the game. I liked the Cerebrus launcher, the ability to cause blind on enemy units can be quite powerful when it occurs.

Hope you enjoyed the battle report, I've got a game lined up with a Chaos Space Marine army for next week. Can't wait to see how that turns out.